News Updates for the Week of March 4, 2013

1.     Next Generation Luminaires Design Competition Announces 2012 Outdoor Winners - The competition began evaluating indoor and outdoor products separately in 2012, and the winners announced today are the 2012 outdoor winners — the first outdoor winners to be announced as part of a separate NGL competition.  Compared to previous years, the 2012 NGL outdoor results show a marked improvement in overall performance. The recognized products performed best in terms of color, illuminance, and light distribution and not quite as well in terms of glare, which was somewhat of a concern to the judges. The idea behind NGL is to make it easier for lighting designers and specifiers to find LED lighting products that are worthy of specification. For the complete list of winners in the outdoor category:  http://www.ngldc.org/12/outdoor/winners.stm

2.     Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2012 Product of the Year Winners - Consulting-Specifying Engineer Magazine recently announced the 2012 Product of the Year winners. These 32 individual products—selected by the readers of Consulting-Specifying Engineer—were culled from a field of 98 entries. Product categories include electrical distribution; emergency, on-site, and standby power; equipment level sensors and controls; fire, life safety, and mass notification; lighting; plumbing and water management; software design, modeling, and analysis; and test instruments, meters and data loggers. http://www.csemag.com/home/single-article/2012-product-of-the-year-winners/476ccdbf642fcd1fe53a81f2cef4b33c.html

3.     tED’s Lighting Line-Up Preview - The cover story for the March issue of tED explores how LED technology is steadily growing, with manufacturers offering advice on how distributors can best approach the lighting market.  The March issue of tED features the annual Lighting Line-Up. http://www.tedmag.com/galleries/Lighting-Line-Up-preview.aspx#8517957833

4.     Zhaga Publishes Interface Specs for LED Downlighting Modules - The Zhaga Consortium, an international group of lighting industry companies, develops interface specifications (Books) that enable the interchangeability of LED light engines made by different manufacturers. Zhaga has published its second interface specification for LED light engines: Zhaga Interface Specification Book 2 defining a SSL module primarily for downlight applications. Zhaga has also created a database of certified products, which are all commercially available. In October 2012, Zhaga published Book 1 and Book 3, which respectively include common definitions and generic information applicable to all the different interface specifications. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/2/20

5.     There's Gold in Them Thar Tax Code - http://www.dsireusa.org/ Hundreds of tax incentives exist for clean energy. The trick is tracking them down, making sense of them, and putting them to good use. Here's some guidance on how to do this: Federal Tax Incentives. The so-called "fiscal cliff" bill (HR 8) enacted last month included a suite of sweeteners for clean-energy projects. Specifically, several tax incentives were extended through the end of 2013, including the Production Tax Credit, Bonus Depreciation, the Energy-Efficient New Homes Tax Credit for Home Builders, the Energy-Efficient Appliance Manufacturing Tax Credit and the Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit. Other federal incentives are currently in effect as well; here's a fuller list

6.     Silicon Nanocrystal LEDs - Scientists of KIT and the University of Toronto/Canada have now succeeded in manufacturing silicon-based light-emitting diodes (SiLEDs). Silicon dominates in the microelectronics and photovoltaics industries, but has been considered unsuitable for light-emitting diodes for some time. However, this is not true for nanoscopic dimensions: Minute silicon nanocrystals can produce light. These nanocrystals consist of a few hundred to thousand atoms and have a considerable potential as highly efficient light emitters. The SiLEDs have the advantage that they do not contain any heavy metals. In contrast to cadmium selenide, cadmium sulfide or lead sulfide used by other groups of researchers, the silicon used by this group for the light-emitting nanoparticles is not toxic. Moreover, it is available at low costs and highly abundant on earth. http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/15356/title/silicon-nanocrystal-leds.aspx

7.     California Plans More Exacting LED Retrofit Lamp Guidelines - California has a new guideline for LED retrofit lamps that is more stringent than Energy Star guidelines in some areas. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has published the voluntary guideline (Voluntary California Quality LED Lamp Specification) and lamp manufacturers will have to comply to have their solid-state lighting (SSL) retrofits be eligible for utility rebates. The CEC does not intend to supplant Energy Star but to simply add some requirements in certain areas. There are no concrete plans for the CPUC to begin enforcing the news specification. But the CEC document says that utilities will start requiring compliance one year after the specification has been adopted and that could mean early 2014.  http://www.energy.ca.gov/2012publications/CEC-400-2012-016/CEC-400-2012-016-SD.pdf

8.     DOE to Host Webcast on Successful Selection of LED Streetlight Luminaires on March 6, 2013 - On Wednesday, March 6, DOE’s Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium will host a 90-minute live webcast on the factors involved in successful selection of LED streetlight luminaires. Presented by Eric Haugaard of Cree Lighting and Chad Stalker of Philips Lumileds, the webcast will guide participants through the modeling of a typical roadway layout — emphasizing key design elements for consideration. The webcast will begin at 1:00 PM Eastern Time and will include a 60-minute presentation, followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer session with attendees. To register.  http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/events_detail.html?event_id=7669

9.     Webcast: Highlighting Indoor SSL Applications - On Thursday, April 4, the U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) will host a webcast entitled “Solid-State Lighting: Highlighting Indoor Applications.” The webcast is part of FEMP's First Thursday Seminars series, which provides training for Federal energy and environmental professionals. The webcast will highlight new LED lighting developments with an emphasis on troffer applications, best practices to upgrade existing and install new lighting, as well as Federal priorities and tools and resources for success. The webcast is scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. To register or to learn more, visit:    http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/femp/training/course_detail_live.cfm/CourseDateId=537

10.     LIGHTFAIR 2013 REGISTRATION IS OPEN - Registration for LIGHTFAIR International 2013, which will occur April 21-25, 2013 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, is now open: http://www.lightfair.com/lightfair/V40/

 

11.  Energy Efficiency Program Aims to Make All Kentuckians More Aware  - Kentucky is one of three states to receive a U.S. DOE grant to use Cooperative Extension offices to funnel energy efficiency information to residents, dubbed “Energy Efficiency Awareness and Action Program.” If the program is successful in Kentucky, it could become a nationwide program.  The program uses online tools so that residents and commercial business owners can perform energy assessments in their homes and businesses. http://www.bae.uky.edu/energy/commercial/